How to pronounce film
Say it like FILM. Film is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce film. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- FILM
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Film pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- FILMSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of film
American and British speakers say film in essentially the same way: /fɪlm/ in the US and /fɪlm/ in the UK.
British respelling: FILM.
What does film mean?
- a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement“they went to a movie every Saturday night”“the film was shot on location”
- a medium that disseminates moving pictures“theater pieces transferred to celluloid”“this story would be good cinema”
- photographic material consisting of a base of celluloid covered with a photographic emulsion; used to make negatives or transparencies
- make a film or photograph of something“take a scene”“shoot a movie”
- record in film“The coronation was filmed”
Where does film come from?
From Middle English filme, from Old English filmen (“film, membrane, thin skin, foreskin”), from Proto-West Germanic *filmīn-, from Proto-Germanic *filmīn- (“thin skin, membrane”) (compare Proto-Germanic *felma- (“skin, hide”)), from Proto-
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Questions about saying film
How do you pronounce film?
Say FILM. The American pronunciation is /fɪlm/. In British English it is /fɪlm/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in film?
Film is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: FILM.
Do Americans and Brits say film the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /fɪlm/ and the British form is /fɪlm/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.